M17 cylinder hard to eject shells

[bigi]

I have a nice 1959 M17 no dash. I cleaned the cylinder repeatedly with a bronze brush, even used choire boy copper pad and a drill on slow. The problem is that once fired the cartridges are very hard to eject. They go in fine unfired. I tried to feed the fired ones and they go back in but the last 1/8". I read else where of people having similar problem. Is there a fix? Otherwise the gun is very accurate.

[murphydog]

Perhaps try different brands of ammo. If they all extract the same it may just be the way your gun works. I've read instances where the .22 chambers were tight (hard to seat loaded rounds), but if it is not a brass issue it sounds that your chambers may be too big, which is a different issue.

[fyimo]

Originally Posted by murphydog

Perhaps try different brands of ammo. If they all extract the same it may just be the way your gun works. I've read instances where the .22 chambers were tight (hard to seat loaded rounds), but if it is not a brass issue it sounds that your chambers may be too big, which is a different issue.

I agree with him that the first thing to try is different brands of ammo because it sounds like you have your chambers as clean as they can be.

[bigi]

The only ammo I used was CCI std velocity 40gr. Works great in all my other .22 like M41, 617, Browning medalist, mp15-22 etc. Will try something else.

[longaction]

My 1968 K22 did the same thing. I used to carry a wood mallet to knock out the empties. The chambers were oversized but the revolver was safe and accurate. I never bought another Smith 22 revolver again.

[bigi]

Why wood oversize chambers cause this? You would think this should make them easier to come out.

[fyimo]

Originally Posted by bigi

Why wood oversize chambers cause this? You would think this should make them easier to come out.

Actually I always thought it was tight cjambers that caused this and the reason is larger chambers would have more room when the case expanded thus being more forgiving. I would still try a couple of other brands as different manufactuers brass does vary in size.

There have also been people up here who reported this problem and they honed out their chambers slightly and said it solved the problem.

[H Richard]

When the round fires it expands into the oversize chamber and if the chamber walls are not completely parallel, makes it difficult to extract.

[Iggy]

I have heard that the CCI stuff is slightly overlength for some reason.
Lighter bullet and longer cases.
This might be the problem.

[PMRet]

Oversized chambers would allow the cases to overexpand when fired, making them hard to extract.

[Florida Guy]

I don't have much of a problem ejecting from my 1964 17-2, but my sister uses a folded towel on the ejector rod of her 63- to remove the empties.
It's a lot easier on her hand that way.
Agree with others - try a variety of bullets and see if that makes a difference.

[bigi]

I will try different ammo. Just for info I tried inserting the fired brass back in and without exception they all would not go in the last 1/8-3/16 " . Unfired no problem to insert. One thing I did not try is to make sure I test it with ALL chambers but will next time.

[Mike McLellan]

I had the same problem with my pre-17. In my case, though, I was using high velocity ammo. Somebody on this forum recommended using slower ammo. I switched to target rounds and the problem no longer exists. It sounds as though you already tried that. Maybe slow it down even more?

[pharmer]

HV .22 lr are around 24,000 CUP, .38spl +p around 18,500. Since the .22 brass is soft enough to be "rim fired", you expect the cases to be a little "sticky". My 17, 18, 63 are all in the same boat. I usually carry a bore brush in my range bag. Joe

[M3Stuart]

Originally Posted by longaction

My 1968 K22 did the same thing. I used to carry a wood mallet to knock out the empties. The chambers were oversized but the revolver was safe and accurate. I never bought another Smith 22 revolver again.

AAaaarrrgggghhhhh

On another thread I, apparently, was the only person who had ever, in the history of forever, had a problem extracting .22 cases. Ditto on the need for a mallet and ramrod of some type. Ditto on the inherent satisfaction with my Ruger MkII(s).

On a lighter note:
Can you imagine having to beat the cases out of a little alloy or polymer revolver like a 317 or a LCR?!? You'd end up knocking the thing apart trying to get the cases out.

Edit: Technical note - somebody said the CCI cases were longer than std: that is true for the Stingers but not the CCI mini-mags. So, it ain't that.

[dpsix]

My son's 62 vintage Model 17 about needs a smack on the bench with the ejector rod to dump cases. While the chambers are bright and clean, the foward half of each chamber looks like it never saw a finish reamer. A good deal on a 95% plus gun sometimes is not such a good deal.

[JoeHatley]

Is there a fix?

Check your headspace. I'll bet it is probably too large. Allows the case to back out of the chamber a bit when fired. Then the unsupported section of case wall expands and makes extraction difficult.

If you have the barrel to cylinder gap to spare, adding a shim or two the move the cylinder back is a quick (and reversable) fix to try.

Worked perfectly on my 17-4.

Good Luck...

Joe

[bigi]

Ok I tried several different types of ammo and found Federal Champion 525/brick copper plated solved the problem. Also less fouling. Yiepeee

[pmhayden]

Originally Posted by bigi

Ok I tried several different types of ammo and found Federal Champion 525/brick copper plated solved the problem. Also less fouling. Yiepeee

I found that waxy or varnished shells tend to stick in my 17-3. Stingers and minimags stick. But I have not had that problem with American Eagle, Federal, or high end target ammo. I don't think it is the pistol if changing ammo solves the problem.

[islandguy]

Originally Posted by bigi

Ok I tried several different types of ammo and found Federal Champion 525/brick copper plated solved the problem. Also less fouling. Yiepeee

I shoot a 17-6 and my wife shoots a Model of 1953 22/32 Target. Any CCI is very sticky in both, but the Fed 525 bulk copper-plated drops into both with the HKS speedloaders we use. No problems with extraction either. The chambers of the Model of 1953 22/32 Target are slightly tighter than those of the 17-6, so the rounds often need a gentle "push" to get them to seat, but they extract fine.

[bigi]

Well I don't think the wax coating is the problem. I tried bulk Blazer (with coating of wax) and Blazer individualy boxed (no wax) and Federal Target (no wax) and Stingers, CCI SV and Imperial, Dominion and they all would NOT eject without banging the ejector against wood.

[CJS57]

Purchase a M-17 brand new in 1964. It did the same thing. Glad to hear I am not alone. Sold it and went automatic.

[bigi]

Just found out my friend has the 17-3 with the same ejection problem.

[paplinker]

I also shoot cci standard velocity.In my 1947 k22 with a ton of use the ejection is no problem. In my 1959 with only 500 rounds through it i get sticking issues.I wish i had the answer.

[punxsutawneypete]

I took a bronze brush and coated it with wet baking soda and ran it through each chamber with my drill on slow speed. The empties don't drop out but they definitely take a lot less effort to eject.

[gr7070]

I *never* used to have this issue, but after shooting my 617 a little more often recently it cropped up. After only three stages of Steel Challenge they'd be incredibly difficult to eject.

I've been using Winchester 333s or 555s. I shot Federal 550s this weekend. After 5 stages of Steel Challenge I didn't experience any increased difficulty, ejected with ease. Had to be the ammo; nothing else was different.

No more Winchesters for the 617.

[bigi]

Like I said see post #18.

[gr7070]

Originally Posted by bigi

Like I said see post #18.

18 is why I grabbed different ammo when I left my house.

[wx7b]

I have a 1960 K419XXX that I just purchased in pristine condition. Spent today at the range and had to smack the ejector rod each time. Ammo was Federal copper plated HP. Will try another brand soon.

[pilgrim6a]

I have a model 17-3 and a '48 K22. The 17-3 will eat anything. The K22 not so much. The only thing that extracts easy is Federal bulk and Federal Lighting. It does work with some old (25 year old) Winchester Super X and Wildcat, but not the new stuff.
The only advice I can give ya is try a bunch of different brands of ammo and hope that what it likes isn't too expensive.
One thing you should check is the pins under the extractor. If one is gone or if they're loose, that could be causing the problem.